Norfolk State University projects its enrollment will increase substantially in the next 10 years so it’s building more student housing.

“There are not enough beds on campus,” said Anton Kashiri, Norfolk State’s associate vice president for facilities management. “The master plan calls for us to house 50 percent of our students on campus.”

Kashiri also said studies show students who live on campus do better than those who live off campus.

The solution: a new 193,424-square-foot, 740-bed co-ed residential facility for first year students is under construction on campus on Corprew Avenue, adjacent to Spartan Suites.

The housing complex is being built on the site where the Norfolk Hospital Building once stood. It was built in 1937 and demolished in 2013.

The $56 million project is being designed and constructed by Commonwealth Architects, S.B. Ballard Construction Co. and Niles Bolton Associates.

The four-story building will have a north and south hall with a central two-story space connecting the two wings.

Room options will include two bedrooms with two baths; four bedrooms with two baths; and those with one bedroom and one bath.

Common areas include offices, a conference room, resource production space, fitness room, movement/yoga studio, multipurpose room, group study space, community kitchen, theater and open gaming space.

“We really wanted to create a facility that promotes community for NSU’s students,” Kashiri said.

“While maintaining the master plan, we envisioned a residence hall fit for nurturing educational goals while providing space for establishing relationships that will last a lifetime.”

The university currently houses 2,400 students in seven residential halls and Spartan Suites, which is an apartment-style community.

Current enrollment is at 5,600 and is predicted to increase to 7,500 in the next decade.

Kashiri said they house some students off campus in hotels each year especially at the beginning of the semester.

“We usually start the year by housing 200 students off campus in a hotel,” Kashiri said. “They stay there the whole semester and when the second semester starts – after December graduation – we can bring some back.”

The new building, which has yet to be named, will open in the fall of 2019 for 600 students; the remaining 140 rooms will be completed by December 2019.

“This is going to bring excitement for students and also gives us the chance to renovate some of the existing residential halls,” Kashiri said, noting some renovation work has already begun.

“We will close some of the other residential facilities while we are doing the renovations.”

Several of the college’s dormitories are more than 40 years old: Babbette Smith North and South Hall, both 11-story buildings, were built in 1970 and Samuel Scott Hall, a three-story building, was constructed in 1977.

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